Thousands more Melburnians are set to embrace a food and organics waste collection service, as the popular program begins the next stage of its rollout.
The food and garden organics program – FOGO – will be expanded to more than 13,000 households within 1,100 low-rise apartment buildings across the municipality.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the City of Melbourne will invest $1.5 million to expand the program, which will divert more than 2,500 tonnes of waste from landfill each year.
“The success of our food and organics waste service proves that Melburnians are keen to embrace a more environmentally friendly method of waste disposal,” the Lord Mayor said.
“Since the program began in June 2021, we’ve collected more than 110,000 bins of food and organic waste from 9,000 households, diverting a massive 942 tonnes from landfill – that’s almost an entire cargo ship in weight.
“The next step will be bringing this service to your high-rise apartment buildings. This represents a big challenge that has yet to be solved anywhere in the world. We’ll soon be undertaking a trial to assess how we can best collect and process organic waste in this setting.”
Once collected, the FOGO waste is turned into compost and used to maintain parks and gardens across the city.
From Monday 28 March, eligible households will start to receive their new food and organics waste bins, along with a caddy, compostable liners and introductory pack.
Environment portfolio lead Councillor Rohan Leppert said the benefits of the green waste service were significant.
“Food and organics make up nearly 50 per cent of waste in the average household, producing methane gas, which, when sent to landfill, has a climate change impact 25 times greater than carbon dioxide,” Cr Leppert said.
“By removing organic waste from our general rubbish collection, we’ll be able to cut our landfill footprint in half and significantly reduce our waste costs.
“We’re now trialing using the compost from our food and organics service on our city parks and gardens. By properly utilising this waste for composting, we’re making our city a more sustainable and environmentally friendly place for everyone.”
Bin collection services will begin the week after households receive their new bins.
